Indian American Entrepreneur, Activist Priya Haji Dead at 44

San Leandro/Calif, Jul 19: Indian American thought leader and social entrepreneur Priya Haji was found dead in her home July 14 at the age of 44.

She leaves behind two young children, an 11-month-old daughter, Zen, and two-year-old son, Omi.

Haji — whose unusual name reflected her ethnic mix of a Hindu mother and Muslim father — was one of the most effective and influential activists in the South Asian American community.

Best known for her most recent venture, a personal financial savings app called SaveUp that empowers low-income people to save money using a unique incentive program, Haji was also the cofounder of World of Good, a fair-trade and sustainable marketplace model that was acquired by eBay in February of 2010.

But it was Free at Last, a nonprofit she founded in working-class East Palo Alto while she was still a senior at nearby Stanford University, which first put her on the radar among Indian Americans because of the way she took her experiences in the real world and then applied them to her education, instead of the other way around.

In East Palo Alto, she told the TriplePundit news site, “drug turf wars led to an exceedingly high murder rates and there were no treatment programs and absolutely no access to alternate sentencing.

“Free at Last created mobile health clinics, affordable housing, economic development and counseling to thousands of people. From Free at Last, I went to business school. I wanted the opportunity to think freely and to study some of the things that I had learned by doing, and I really wanted to think about how to utilize market-based-models and self-renewing approaches to create social change.”

SaveUp co-founder and CFO Sammy Shreibati told TechCrunch, “I am incredibly saddened to write that my friend and co-founder Priya Haji passed away at her home on the evening of July 14, 2014. Her 11-month-old daughter and 2-year-old son survive her.” India-West's inquiry to SaveUp was not returned by press time.

“Priya's nickname was ‘Firecracker,' a name that her mother gave her because her birthday was on the 4th of July. At SaveUp we fed off her energy and passion to build something that helped the world.

“From her non-profit work at Free at Last to her ventured-backed companies World of Good and SaveUp, Priya was always striving to help people in everything she did. She was a courageous leader and colleague, but first and foremost a friend.”

According to TechCrunch, Haji's cause of death was not yet verified by medical authorities, though the site said that “early assessments indicate a pulmonary embolism or cardiac event may have occurred.”

Twitter and Facebook are flooded with tributes to Haji. One friend has also started a crowdsourcing fund to help care for her children at https://fundly.com/fund-for-priya-haji-s-children.

Her first start-up was a free clinic in Texas with her father when she was just 16. After earning a BA from Stanford, she went on to earn an MBA from UC Berkeley and was the recipient of honors including a Social Innovation Award from the Social Venture Network, and a recognition by MTV and the DoSomething Foundation as one of the most important young leaders in America. She spoke at the World Economic Forum and was profiled in Forbes and by NPR among many other news outlets.

Haji's upbeat and productive attitude, and proven results, inspired many people. She posted one of her most memorable comments to Twitter in March, in honor of feminist Gloria Steinem's birthday. “I'm a single Indian woman w/2 beautiful children. We can do anything.

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Powerful solar storm hits earth; will it disrupt communication, power grids?

News Network

May 11,2024

Washington, May 11: The most powerful solar storm in more than two decades struck Earth on Friday, triggering spectacular celestial light shows from Tasmania to Britain -- and threatening possible disruptions to satellites and power grids as it persists into the weekend.

The first of several coronal mass ejections (CMEs) -- expulsions of plasma and magnetic fields from the Sun -- came just after 1600 GMT, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)'s Space Weather Prediction Center.

It was later upgraded to an "extreme" geomagnetic storm -- the first since the "Halloween Storms" of October 2003 caused blackouts in Sweden and damaged power infrastructure in South Africa. More CMEs are expected to pummel the planet in the coming days.

Social media lit up with people posting pictures of auroras from northern Europe and Australasia.

"We've just woken the kids to go watch the Northern Lights in the back garden! Clearly visible with the naked eye," Iain Mansfield in Hertford, England, told AFP.

That sense of wonder was shared in Australia's island state of Tasmania.

"Absolutely biblical skies in Tasmania at 4 am this morning. I'm leaving today and knew I could not pass up this opportunity," photographer Sean O' Riordan posted on social media platform X alongside a photo.

Authorities notified satellite operators, airlines, and the power grid to take precautionary steps for potential disruptions caused by changes to Earth's magnetic field.

Elon Musk, whose Starlink satellite internet operator has some 5,000 satellites in low Earth orbit, described the solar storm as the "biggest in a long time."

"Starlink satellites are under a lot of pressure, but holding up so far," Musk posted on his X platform.

Unlike solar flares, which travel at the speed of light and reach Earth in around eight minutes, CMEs travel at a more sedate pace, with officials putting the current average at 800 kilometers (500 miles) per second.

The CMEs emanated from a massive sunspot cluster that is 17 times wider than our planet. The Sun is approaching the peak of an 11-year cycle that brings heightened activity.

'Go outside tonight and look'

Mathew Owens, a professor of space physics at the University of Reading, told AFP that how far the effects would be felt over the planet's northern and southern latitudes would depend on the storm's final strength.

"Go outside tonight and look would be my advice because if you see the aurora, it's quite a spectacular thing," he said. People with eclipse glasses can also look for the sunspot cluster during the day.

In the United States, this could include places such as Northern California and Alabama, officials said.

NOAA's Brent Gordon encouraged the public to try to capture the night sky with phone cameras even if they couldn't see auroras with their naked eyes.

"Just go out your back door and take a picture with the newer cell phones and you'd be amazed at what you see in that picture versus what you see with your eyes."

Spacecraft and pigeons

Fluctuating magnetic fields associated with geomagnetic storms induce currents in long wires, including power lines, which can potentially lead to blackouts. Long pipelines can also become electrified, leading to engineering problems.

Spacecraft are also at risk from high doses of radiation, although the atmosphere prevents this from reaching Earth.

NASA has a dedicated team looking into astronaut safety and can ask astronauts on the International Space Station to move to places within the outpost that are better shielded.

Following one particularly strong flare peak, the US Space Weather Prediction Center said users of high-frequency radio signals "may experience temporary degradation or complete loss of signal on much of the sunlit side of Earth."

Even pigeons and other species that have internal biological compasses could also be affected. Pigeon handlers have noted a reduction in birds coming home during geomagnetic storms, according to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Officials said people should have the normal backup plans in place for power outages, such as having flashlights, batteries, and radios at hand.

The most powerful geomagnetic storm in recorded history, known as the Carrington Event after British astronomer Richard Carrington, occurred in September 1859.

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